The key facts

  • Turkey has nominated Feridun Sinirlioglu, who has headed the OSCE since December 2024, as a candidate for UN Secretary-General
  • The nomination followed an inconclusive Security Council straw poll on October 30
  • There are now eight candidates in total; Guterres's successor will take office on January 1, 2027

Official nomination

Turkey has officially entered the race for the post of UN Secretary-General, putting forward the candidacy of the current OSCE Chairman Feridun Sinirlioglu. The appeal to the UN was sent by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; this is stated in a letter from Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ahmet Yildiz, addressed to the presidents of the General Assembly and the Security Council. The circumstances of the nomination are described by the Turkish agency Anadolu, while details of the procedure are covered by Life.ru.

Who is Sinirlioglu

Sinirlioglu is an experienced Turkish diplomat: he previously headed the country's foreign ministry and represented Ankara at the UN, and since December 2024 he has held the post of OSCE Secretary-General.

Context: a prolonged selection process

The nomination came against the backdrop of a deadlock in the process of choosing the organization's new head: another informal poll (straw poll) of the Security Council on October 30 again ended without an agreed candidate. Ankara hopes that Sinirlioglu's participation will help move the process forward. Earlier, former President of Senegal Macky Sall withdrew from the race, former Senegalese President Macky Sallexplaining his withdrawal by a 'sense of responsibility' and expressing hope that his exit would help the Security Council agree on a single candidate.

Who else is running and how the decision will be made

After the Turkish candidate's nomination, eight people are vying for the post: IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi (Argentina), Rebecca Grynspan (Costa Rica), former Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces, diplomat from Guyana Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, former Ecuadorian ambassador Ivonne Baki, Uganda's representative Olara Otunnu, and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Lana Zaki Nusseibeh. The decision will be made in several stages: the candidate must receive at least nine votes out of 15 in the Security Council and avoid a veto from any of the five permanent members, after which the General Assembly will formally appoint them. The mandate of the current Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expires on December 31, 2026; his successor will take office on January 1, 2027, for a five-year term.